Procedure during the production of a packaging container comprising an outer sleeve and a lining with an outward-turned flange

ABSTRACT

A METHOD FOR FORMING A CONTAINER HAVING AN INNER LINER WITH A RADIAL FLANGE EXTENDING OUTWARDLY THEREFROM ADJACENT ITS UPPER PORTION AND BEING INSERTED IN A SLEEVE UP TO THE FLANGE AND THE FLANGE BEING FOLDED DOWN ABOUT THE SLEEVE TO SECURE THE SLEEVE AND LINER TOGETHER.

May 11., 1971 R. L. IGNELL 3,578,524

PROCEDURE DURING THE PRODUCTION OF A PACKAGING CONTAINER COMPRISING AN OUTER SLEEVE AND A LINING WITH AN OUTWARD-TURNED FLANGE Filed Oct. 16. 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig1 1.

Fig.2

I N VENTOR R0 Lennwr'l; IgneLL "12%, J 29 Fun ATTORNEY} y 11, 1971 R. L. IGNELL 3,578,524

PROCEDURE DURING THE PRODUCTION OF A PACKAGING CONTAINER COMPR 5 N6 AN ER E AND A LINING H AN 0 AR ED FLANGE Filed Oct. 16. 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3

I NVENTOR ATTORNEYS M y 11 R. L. IGNELL PROCEDURE DURING THE PRODUCTION OF A PACKAGING CONTAINER I COMPRISING AN OUTER SLEEVE AND A LINING WITH AN OUTWARD-TURNED FLANGE Filed Oct 16, 1967 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 uvvambn RoL'F LennoJ-f. IgneLL BY W); J flu gzgmx PMLH I It!!!Illlllilllliiiiillllilfl;IllIIII I I! i 4 ATTORNEYS United States Patent Int. Cl: B32b 1/10 US. Cl. 156-496 2 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A mefliod for forming a container having an inner liner with a radial flange extending outwardly therefrom adjacent its upper portion and being inserted in a sleeve up to the flange and the flange being folded down about the sleeve to secure the sleeve and liner together.

The present invention relates to packaging technology and is concerned with a procedure during the production of a packaging container of the kind which comprises an outer sleeve on the one hand and an inner lining with an outward-turned flange on the other, the flange of the inner lining at the beginning of the operation resting on the upper edge of the said outer sleeve.

In the course of producing a packaging container of the kind described above, a difficulty arose in fixing the outer sleeve and the lining onto one another. It was therefore suggested that the flange should be folded down so that it may in this way be possible to unite the sleeve and the lining more securely. It was proposed to carry out the folding-down operation at the same time as the two parts comprising the flange were welded together, or at least before the lining was inserted into the sleeve. This operation however proved impractical, and the operation at the same time did not achieve the fixity between the lining and the sleeve that had been aimed at. In accordance with the present invention it is therefore proposed instead that the flange be bent down over the outer sleeve after the flange had been brought in contact with the upper edge of the outer sleeve. It has been shown that it is in this way possible to attain a fixity which satisfies all the requirements as far as durability is concerned, at the same time as the operation can be carried out with ease. When the sleeve largely consists of a compressible material such as cardboard, the fixity can be made particularly durable by a bead on the flange being pressed into the sleeve material. Alternatively or additionally, the foldeddown flange can be welded onto the outside of the sleeve.

Another problem which also arose in connection with the packaging container described as an introduction was that the liquid which ran down the walls of the container when it was being filled infiltrated between the flange and the upper edge of the sleeve and also between the lining and the inside of the sleeve. This resulted in a considerable nuisance, especially if the sleeve had a fibrous inside surface, inasmuch as the sleeve became saturated and was thereby given a less attractive appearance. It has however been possible to eliminate this problem also by means of the present invention.

Among the other advantages of the invention may be mentioned the fact that the radial dimension of the flange can be appreciably reduced, at the same time as the flange will be more resistant to mechanical stresses.

The invention will now be more closely explained by reference to the attached drawings, of which FIG. 1 shows an inner lining consisting of .two parts united in an outward-turned flange,

FIG. 2 shows a cylindrical sleeve, into which the lining as in FIG. 1 is to be inserted,

FIG. 3 shows to a larger scale the flange and the corresponding portion of the sleeve ringed in FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 shows the flange in accordance with FIG. 3 after it has been bent down and fixed in the sleeve in conformity with one constructional form of the invention.

FIG. 5 shows in two different positions a tool for carrying out the folding down and fixing, and

FIG. 6 illustrates another constructional form of the invention The lining or inner container 1 shown in FIG. 1 consists of a bottom portion 3 and atop portion 4. Since the container is primarily intended for aerated dririks, etc., which can exert an appreciable pressure, the base of the bottom portion 3 has been made spherical, while its cylindrical jacket poition is to be supported by the sleeve 2 shown in FIG. 2. The .top portion 4 has in return been made somewhat stronger than the bottom portion in order that it should be able to withstand the inside pressure. The material of the inner lining in the preferred constructional form consists of polyvinylchloride (PVC). The sleeve 2. is a cardboard tube 8, FIG. 3, which on the outside has been covered with a thin impermeable material 9, eg aluminium, preferably in the form of a label.

Both the bottom portion 3 and the top portion 4 are provided with flanges 5' and 5" respectively, which are joined to one another in a high-frequency or ultrasonic weld S having a radical dimension of approximately 2.0 mm. The material in flanges 5 and 5" is somewhat thicker than in the wall portions of lining 1, altogether somewhat greater than 1 mm. The welding causes the materials to melt together and the flanges can therefore be regarded as a single flange after they had been joined. This has been denoted 5 in the figures. A certain flow of the material takes place during welding as a result of the pressure of the welding electrodes, which causes a reduction of the thickness of flange 5 (thickness T will be approximately 0.9 mm.), and also results in the formation of beads on each side of the welding tool.

The ring-shaped bead formed outside the welding electrode as a result of the flow of the plastic material can in its turn be divided into a lower 6 and an upper bead 7 respectively, of which the lower one 6, in accordance with the invention, is used to fix the lining 1 to sleeve 2. By folding down the flange 5, which is not yet quite still, over the outside of sleeve 2 and thereby pressing bead 6 (which as a result is somewhat deformed and is in FIG. 4 therefore denoted 6') into the fibrous and thus compressible sleeve material 8 and by subsequently cooling the flange, it is securely fixed in position.

A certain extrusion of the flange material further occurs during the folding-down operation, so that it is again reduced in thickness (the radial dimension R of the flange will be approximately 0.6 mm. only), and is also largely given a completely cylindrical and even surface. Bead 7 is flattened and has in FIG. 4 been denoted 7 A tool for carrying out the operation is shown diagram matically in FIG. 5. The tool consists in principle of a tubular housing 10 open at the bottom and fitted at the top with a hose 11 which can be connected to a source of compressed air. The housing 10 can be moved relative to the packaging containenwhich is stationary during the folding-down operation, by means of an activating mechanism not shown in the figure, of a conventional type such as a hydraulic device or cams.

The internal profile of the bottom part of the tool 10 consists of a conical locating surface 12, a cylindrical guiding surface 13, a conical flange folding-down surface 14 and a cylindrical flange smoothing and guiding surface 15, which determines the shape and radial dimension of the folded-down flange. The left-hand side of FIG. shows the initial stage of the flange folding operation, while the right-hand "side shows the position of the tool when the flange has been folded down and is being cooled by the tool. When the cooling has been completed, and the flange thus securely fixed in its position, the completed packaging container is ejected from 'the tool by means of hose 11 being connected to a source of compressed air.

FIG. 6 shows a somewhat different packaging container to which the principles of the invention are also appliable. This packaging container also exhibits an outer sleeve 19 comprising a tube 20'. Tube 20 may consist of a thermoplastic material (polyethylene) or of cardboard. In the latter case it is provided with an outer coat of plastic 25, most conveniently in the shape of a plastic-coated paper label, of a quality that is determined by its sealability to the material of the inner lining.-

The inner lining 21 in the actual constructional form consists of a packaging container of a composite material, namely a layer 22 of polyethylene, an aluminum layer 23 and on the inside another layer 24 of polyethylene. In such a case therefore the outer coat 25 of sleeve 19 will also consist of polyethylene. If on the other hand the inner lining 21 had consisted of polyvinylchloride, the coat 25 should also consist of a material that can be sealed to polyethylene such as vinyl varnish.

The packaging container has furthermore a cover comprising a lower composite material 26-28 of the same kind of materials as in lining 21. Cover 30 is best provided with a stitfening layer 31 having an outer label 32.

Both cover 30 and the inner lining 21 project over the upper edge of sleeve 19. The projecting portions are welded to one another (layers 24 and 26) and flange 29 thus formed is folded down against the outside of the wall of the sleeve and sealed to the outer coat 25 of sleeve 20 by the melting together of the said coat 25 and layer 22 of the inner lining which has been pressed against the outer coat. The sealing operation maybe performed by a tool of the same general description as that shown in FIG. 5, in which case however coat 25 must first be heated to an adhesive condition before the still-plastic flange 29' is folded down. A hot air unit is best used for this purpose.

What is claimed is:

-1. A method for forming a container having a formable liner provided with a radial flange element extending outwardly from and adjacent the upper portion thereof and provided with a depending bead about the outer circumference thereof and a sleeve element of compressible relatively rigid material for receiving said liner, said method comprising inserting the liner into said sleeve element so that the upper edge of the sleeve element abuts the radial flange of the liner and bending said flange element downwardly about the outside ofthe upper portion of the sleeve element while permanently deforming same whereby said bead compresses said sleeve material so as to be engaged therewith.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the flange element is composed of a thermoplastic material and is in a softened state just prior to the bending step and is cooled to a substantially rigid state by a means for effecting the bending step.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,652,148 9/ 1953 Pfeifer 22063X 2,727,673 12/1955 Bergstrom 220-63X 2,736,065 2/1956 Wilcox l56l96X 2,795,348 6/1957 Kunik l5669X 3,285,461 11/1966 Santelli 22063X 3,449,183 6/ 1967 Zelnick 156-69 SAMUEL W. ENGLE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

